The Bishops’ Social Justice Statement is released ahead of the Church’s Social Justice Sunday, celebrated on August 30 this year. Given the challenges our country and the world are facing due to COVID-19, the issue of mental health is very much front and centre for many people.

The Statement challenges everyone – individuals, schools, parishes, communities, policy-makers, governments – to take an interest in the issue of mental health.

It was in 1940, after the long years of the Great Depression and during the Second World War, that the Australian Catholic Bishops issued their first Social Justice Statement. These early years covered a period of great social and economic upheaval. The Bishops voiced their concern for justice in the fields of industrial relations, wage and income security, post war reconstruction and the institutional arrangements of our nation. The concern was for the most vulnerable. In the first Statement the Bishops Conference proposed that the “need of the poor should be considered before yielding to the solicitations of luxury.”

The Catholic Bishops of Australia continue in the tradition of reading the signs of the times and bringing the values of the Gospel and wisdom of the Church teaching to critical issues of social justice. This work is based on a fundamental truth – that each person , made in the image and likeness of God, is owed the dignity ,respect and the conditions necessary to realise their full potential.

These annual statements are meant to challenge and to educate us. They represent a consistent body of teaching and pastoral engagement over many years.

In addition to the written statement, which is now available online, there is also an audio recording and a prayer card.  To access this material visit the Office for Social Justice Website.